Loneliness and Friendship in "Of Mice and Men"

Summary: It is an essay on the aspects of loneliness and friendship in "Of Mice and Men."

`Of mice and men' goes almost entirely around friendship, the relationship between George and Lennie which, being unique in the whole ranch, represents how important it is to have someone that supports you or that just listens to you and share everything with you. But the other side of the coin, loneliness, is also shown, to enhance the importance of a friend.

That friendship seems to be the envy of many people in the ranch, like Curley's wife, the old Candy or the outcast Crooks. And that envy leads to some kind of admiration because all of them had learned to be self-sufficient emotionally and to find their own way alone and that independence gradually evolves into a lonely life in which they sometimes dream of having someone by their side. It also tends to approach a selfish point of view from...